Ambassador: China ‘is the most important, most competitive, and most dangerous relationship’ the US has

US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has expressed concern about the impact of tensions between the US and China, calling the East Asian country “the most important” but “most dangerous relationship” for the United States.

talk to burns CBS News’ “60 Minutes””, he said, making him nervous about the U.S.-China relationship as continued tensions and mistrust continue to shake confidence in the business community.

Asked if this was the most competitive relationship the United States has had in the world, Burns said, “This is the most important, most competitive, and most dangerous relationship that the United States has in the world today, and it is probably the most dangerous relationship that the United States has in the world today.” It will last about 10 years.” ”

Burns said the two countries must “coexist” and claimed this was the biggest area of ​​tension between the two countries.

“China is both our most important competitor and our third largest trading partner with 750,000 American jobs at stake. Agriculture — China’s largest market for U.S. agriculture — “One-fifth of all U.S. exports of agricultural products go to China. Last year it was $40.9 billion,” he said.

Pressed further, Burns said the US could not afford a “real break” and said it was “complicated”.

“Some people say, ‘We are so competitive with China that we should end our economic relationship.’ As a result, 750,000 American families will not be able to put dinner on the table. So , which is a very difficult balance to strike in my job,” Burns added.

His comments follow Mr Burns’ comments in December when he said he was not “optimistic” but still “hopeful”.

Tensions between the United States and China have intensified in recent years over several issues, including U.S. government sanctions against Chinese citizens and officials, restrictions on imports of Chinese semiconductors, and disputes over Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok and Taiwan. .

But both sides have recently signaled some easing of tensions, with President Biden saying in December that talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping had brought “positive steps.”

Burns told “60 Minutes” correspondent Leslie Stahl that the U.S. and China inevitably need to compete, but that it needs to be done “responsibly” to “preserve the peace” between the two countries. He said there is.

“One in five people in the world is Chinese. China has four times the population of the United States and is a vast country of 3.7 million square miles. President Xi likes to see the East as rising and the West as declining. “But economically speaking, the United States is more prosperous than China,” he said, later pointing to the credit rating agency Moody’s and its system. changed outlook Make China “negative”.